The New York Mets have had more than their fair share of dysfunctional general managers throughout the years. From Joe McDonald allowing "The Franchise" Tom Seaver to be traded in 1977 to hiring Jared Porter, in between his inappropriate text messages to reporters, the Mets GM position has been anything but "Amazin'."
The 2023 MLB season was an ugly one for New York's baseball teams, but amidst the sadness and chaos, fans were able to enjoy these ten positive storylines.
You will get little argument from anyone that Buck Showalter knows the game of baseball inside-and-out. At 67, Showalter could easily get another thankless MLB managerial job, dependent on over-paid players, under the microscope of social media's thirst for coaches' blood. Sounds fun?
David Stearns took over the New York Mets on Monday, as their new president of baseball operations. Besides being force-fed general manager Billy Eppler by owner Steve Cohen, it appears that Stearns will have free rein.
New York Mets manager Buck Showalter is as disappointed as anyone regarding the team's performance in 2023. Coming off of a 101-win season and a Manager of the Year award, Showalter appeared to be the captain that would steer Steve Cohen's MLB yacht into the World Series. That excursion may be short lived.
The saying goes something like 'you can take the New Yorker out of New York but you can't the New York out of...' Well, you get the idea. Now let's apply that same philosophy to the "Charlie Brown" of major sports franchises, the New York Mets. Can anyone really save the Mets from themselves? David Stearns, a Mets fan from Manhattan, will be next up to have that unenviable task.
In July of 2020, I interviewed long-time New York sportswriter Bill Madden. The popular baseball reporter had just written a book about legendary Mets' pitcher, Tom Seaver. I was struck by Madden's continuous enthusiasm while describing Seaver's passion for his vineyard.
They were friends and teammates on the Cinderella surprise SUNY Stony Brook baseball team that made it to the College World Series in 2012. The players' friendship never ended and now it is growing in the same in a Major League Baseball locker room.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen spent more money than any other Major League Baseball team in 2023 by over $64 million. Yet, with 40-plus games remaining in the regular season, Cohen's team is all-but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Should the New York Jets be looking at what happened in Queens? Absolutely and for good reason.